It took them a while to get going, but it looks like the preseason World Series favorites have figured things out. The Washington Nationals have won seven of their last nine games to improve to 14-15, although they’re still down 4.98 betting units on the season. They’ll host the Atlanta Braves (14-14, plus-1.42 units) this Friday (7:05 PM ET) in the first of a three-game set at Nationals Park.

Gio Gonzalez (2.91 FIP) and the outstanding Nats rotation have done their part but Gonzalez has only gotten 3.2 runs per game of support from his teammates, while being burned by an unusually high .362 BABIP. Washington has won three of Gonzalez’s five starts for 0.38 units of profit. Southpaw Eric Stults (5.05 FIP) hasn’t pitched nearly as well as Gonzalez. However, thanks to 4.2 runs per game of support, Stults only has a deficit of minus-0.74 units on a team record of 2-3, including an 8-4 win over the Nationals (-132 away) on April 27. These poor performances are likely to catch up to Stults, though, especially now that Washington is starting to show a little more pop at the plate.